Not really PBS related...

With the advent of online banking, I hardly ever buy stamps anymore, but I needed a few and purchased them from an APC.

I was expecting it to spit out a book (or sheet) like you would get from a clerk at the counter.  Instead, I got a sheet of stamps that were incredibly flimsy and look like they were printed by a cheap printer.  They are so thin, you can pretty much see through them.  I used a couple on a book I was sending out, and you can actually see the writing from the PBS label right through them (at least on the white and lighter areas of the stamp).

Are these the kinds of stamps that all APCs dispense?  If so, I don't think I will be purchasing from there again.  I am afraid to use them as they look almost like they are counterfeit. 

That's the kind I get from the APC, too, Jodi, also when I get them at our Credit Unions ATM Machine...they are the same.  I don't use them all the time, but I have used them a lot of times and never had any trouble.

Thanks Beth...  guess it's not just my APC then! :)

That's what my APC dispenses too.  Must be the norm.

what my APC dispenses as well...and if you notice it isn't 20 stamps but 18

The reason for this type of stamp is that the sheet is the exact size and shape, including thickness, as a dollar bill (or other currency) and they were designed to dispense from ATM's.  They are more durable, (though not very thick,) than they look in that they are thin plastic and not paper at all as are most of the stamps that you get at the PO, including the "peel and stick" variety which is slightly thinner than the old "water-activated" ones.   Go ahead and use them---they are AOK.  There are fewer of these sheets printed than the 20 stamp booklet panes that you buy OTC at the PO, and some of these heets have become rather valusble to collectors.  Last year's Christmas auto-dispensed (ATM and APO dispensed) sheets were sold out early and they sell on Ebay at about twice face value now!  The Philatelic Agency (that caters to stamp collectors) sold out of them before Christmas had even arrived last year.

Even the orriginal "booklet" or card of self adhesive stamps, back years ago when they first came out, were the exact size of a bill so they could be sold in ATMs.  In fact when they first came out (self adhesive) that was the only way you could buy them.  IIRC they also held an odd number of stamps, something like 17 or so.